Sea Watch saves 65 migrants, 'ports closed' says Salvini

Published: May 15, 2019

ROME - The German non-profit organization Sea Watch on Wednesday announced that it had rescued 65 people 30 nautical miles from the Libyan coast after being sighted by civil reconnaissance aircraft. It added that Libya, Malta, Italy, and the Netherlands had been informed but no response had been received. The organization added that witnesses to what is happening in the Mediterranean were being reduced but not migrant departures.

It added that among the 65 migrants rescued there were 11 women, 15 under the age of 18 including 8 that were unaccompanied by adult relations, 5 children, 2 infants, and one disabled individual. Italian interior minister Matteo Salvini reacted by saying that "I have just signed a warning against approaching Italian territorial waters. Our ports are, and will remain, closed."